6 of the Best Ecommerce Photo Editing Apps

Ecommerce photography plays a central role in any online retailer’s sales conversions. Beautifully shot, professional looking photography, both product photography and lifestyle photography, will help you to gain the trust of your store visitors. Editing your shots is an essential part of the photography process. Whether you’re retouching aesthetic blemishes, cropping the photograph itself, creating shadows or restoring old pictures, the ability to manipulate and tweak your work is a powerful tool for any photographer, amateur or professional. It’s simply vital for producing consistent images in line with high ecommerce standards, too. 

However, things have changed with regards to the editing tools available. 

Gone are the days of forking out thousands of pounds for the industry’s best technology. The market is awash with excellent, and often free, photo editing apps that can transform your work. 

Here are six of the best ecommerce photography editing apps for you… 

#1 Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop is arguably the biggest name on the photo editing market. Its free offering – Photoshop Express – is an online version that can also be downloaded as an app on your phone. 

Industry experts have hailed Adobe Photoshop Express as an accessible and easy-to-navigate option for those in need of a basic editing tool. It has been described as a well-designed app that is free of distracting adverts. It’s also been championed for having a good colour correction facility. 

Nevertheless, this free option has limitations to what it can do in comparison to the paid version of Adobe Photoshop.  Image retouching is limited, which means it wouldn’t be a good option for those seeking to regularly use it as part of their professional photography business. Similarly, it only supports images up to 16 megapixels. 

#2 Adobe Photoshop (pay monthly)

In contrast to its free younger sibling, Adobe Photoshop’s pay monthly option is considered by many to be the best in the business. It’s got most, if not all, of the image editing tools necessary to get the best results. This, of course, comes at a premium cost. Monthly payments are possible as well as a one-off payment. Discounts are also available for students. 

For those who are keen to invest in their business’ software, you can’t go far wrong with this industry standard tool. Whether you’re retouching fashion shots or perfecting your product photography, every tool you need is at your disposal. 

However, it must be said that Adobe Photoshop takes some getting used to. Such is its capability, even experts say they don’t understand its full potential. Books have been written about its tools, so, if you’re in need of a quick and easy-to-use piece of kit, this isn’t necessarily for you. Photoshop is an investment, both economically and time-wise, that will pay dividends in the end. 

#3 Adobe Lightroom

If you’re in need of a cheaper alternative with a similar aspect to Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom is worth considering. It’s designed for professionals who deal with photographs in bulk, allowing you to edit shots in time-efficient batches. 

Hailed as a fresh and clean-looking interface, Lightroom has been praised for its simplicity and attractive look for users. It’s also been praised for its quick upload speed and its capability to back up photographs to Adobe’s server. Another bonus with Lightroom CC is how it uses artificial intelligence to allow you to search your photographs for certain features. For example, you can search for ‘coffee’ and all of the photographs on your system that feature coffee will appear. 

Despite all of the above, Lightroom does come with limitations. People have reported that it’s costly in comparison to other tools that offer the same service. Others have reported that while time efficient in comparison to older versions, Lightroom is still relatively slow. 

#4 Pixlr

Pixlr is available as a free and a paid version. Features on this tool are varied and useful to those who want a simple way to edit their snaps. Think red-eye corrections and brush tools. The one-click options are also an easy way of achieving fun, fresh looks for your photographs. Experts have also credited Pixlr with being a more accessible version of Photoshop, as a user would require less specialist knowledge to achieve results. 

While Pixlr offers some really good tools, its free version does include adverts which some have described as ‘distracting’. The tool also requires that you download Flash on your laptop. Despite that, if you can live with the above, it’s a great option to explore. 

#5 Inkscape

Inkscape is another free software option to use on your computer. As with the apps listed above, it allows you to edit and manipulate your images without having to pay for any specialist technology. It also allows you to add text to your photographs which is a useful and creative option for ecommerce needs. 

Similar to the other aforementioned tools, Inkscape is a user-friendly software that doesn’t take much time or expertise to understand. Users have credited the team at Inkscape with being dedicated and pioneering technicians who regularly update the service to rectify problems. 

Others have said Inkscape is occasionally slow with regard to processing.

Despite the tardiness some have reported, reviewers are generally pleased with Inkscape’s technology.

#6 GIMP

GIMP regularly makes the lists of people’s top free photo editing apps. Packed with features and tools, it’s hailed as a sophisticated free option for those who want the muscle of Photoshop without the monthly price-tag. 

Featuring customisable tools, it allows you to tailor its programme to work for you. Some, however, say the interface is too busy and cluttered to be considered easy-to-use. Nevertheless, due to the fact it’s free, it’s worth considering and experimenting with this exciting technology. 

So there you have it, my round-up of the best ecommerce photo editing apps. Happy editing!